"We've been doing surveillance. We always send people out to where (a prisoner is from), or anywhere we think that it'll be a possibility that they'll go to," said Cynthia Thornton, Neuse Correctional Institution's assistant superintendent for programs. When the lawmen approached, Dickerson was in a wooded area just outside New Bern's city limits on N.C. 17 South, Ms. Thornton said.

"They actually found him hiding behind a tree," Ms. Thornton said. "... he surrendered without incident."

Thornton said it had been at least three years since a prisoner had escaped the minimum-security facility.